WHO IS THE HIVE HOME AND GIFTS & QUEEN BEE BOUDOIR: THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE BUSINESSJune 24, 2021NewsHive Home and Gifts & Queen Bee Boudoir – Owner, Melissa Pearson
Written by Stacy Thomas
Photography by Angela Bliss Photography
When Melissa Pearson and her partner moved to Squamish in 2012, there wasn’t much of a fetish/burlesque scene to speak of, with one or two events happening per year like the famous James Bondage night that had its last hurrah in 2013. Having worked at one of Vancouver’s longest running fetish nights, Pearson set about rekindling that fire in Squamish, and started to host her own fundraising lingerie and burlesque nights, putting six on between 2018 and the start of the pandemic.
“Once we can have indoor events again, I really want to get back into doing that,” Pearson says. “Because it was so empowering; we used all local models, it’s just so uplifting to see – at first the models would be so self-conscious about getting onstage in lingerie, but then by the end of it their confidence was just beaming through them, and it was just so amazing to see that shift in people.”
Since the lingerie shows have taken a pause, she’s taken the opportunity to find a different outlet for that empowerment: Queen Bee Boudoir, which she opened in the back of her other shop, Hive Home & Gifts. It’s the only lingerie shop in the Sea to Sky, and Pearson says it shows in the reaction she gets from her very regular customers and the way the shop has taken off.
“Almost daily I have a customer come in and tell me how thankful they are that the store’s here and that we’re doing what we’re doing, and that their confidence is increasing so much, and they never thought they’d be a lingerie person, but how their mindset has really shifted in that. Just the general feel of coming in the store, me and my employees are very welcoming and open, really taking the time with each person individually to find out what their specific preferences are when it comes to that stuff.”
Not only that, Pearson has partnered with Angela Bliss Photography and is now doing boudoir photography, another project that has found a huge amount of traction, even hosting “marathon” boudoir photo shoots, and shooting in the forest or the new studio she’s outfitted in her home.
It all appeals to her creative side, and between planning events, sourcing local lingerie makers and setting up photo shoots, she still finds time to work on her “goth garden” and hang out with her dog. And, she sews her own pieces, too. Think faux fur, and yes, they are available in the store.
But what’s this busy bee most proud of?
“Just seeing everybody glow and shine; it’s invigorating. Every body is royalty.”
Hive Home and Gifts & Queen Bee Boudoir – Owner, Melissa Pearson
Written by Stacy Thomas
Photography by Angela Bliss Photography
When Melissa Pearson and her partner moved to Squamish in 2012, there wasn’t much of a fetish/burlesque scene to speak of, with one or two events happening per year like the famous James Bondage night that had its last hurrah in 2013. Having worked at one of Vancouver’s longest running fetish nights, Pearson set about rekindling that fire in Squamish, and started to host her own fundraising lingerie and burlesque nights, putting six on between 2018 and the start of the pandemic.
“Once we can have indoor events again, I really want to get back into doing that,” Pearson says. “Because it was so empowering; we used all local models, it’s just so uplifting to see – at first the models would be so self-conscious about getting onstage in lingerie, but then by the end of it their confidence was just beaming through them, and it was just so amazing to see that shift in people.”
Since the lingerie shows have taken a pause, she’s taken the opportunity to find a different outlet for that empowerment: Queen Bee Boudoir, which she opened in the back of her other shop, Hive Home & Gifts. It’s the only lingerie shop in the Sea to Sky, and Pearson says it shows in the reaction she gets from her very regular customers and the way the shop has taken off.
“Almost daily I have a customer come in and tell me how thankful they are that the store’s here and that we’re doing what we’re doing, and that their confidence is increasing so much, and they never thought they’d be a lingerie person, but how their mindset has really shifted in that. Just the general feel of coming in the store, me and my employees are very welcoming and open, really taking the time with each person individually to find out what their specific preferences are when it comes to that stuff.”
Not only that, Pearson has partnered with Angela Bliss Photography and is now doing boudoir photography, another project that has found a huge amount of traction, even hosting “marathon” boudoir photo shoots, and shooting in the forest or the new studio she’s outfitted in her home.
It all appeals to her creative side, and between planning events, sourcing local lingerie makers and setting up photo shoots, she still finds time to work on her “goth garden” and hang out with her dog. And, she sews her own pieces, too. Think faux fur, and yes, they are available in the store.
But what’s this busy bee most proud of?
“Just seeing everybody glow and shine; it’s invigorating. Every body is royalty.”
